Terrorist organisation, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, has issued a statement on the death of Lashkar-i-Islam’s leader Mangal Bagh who was killed  in a mine explosion in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan on Thursday.

The banned terror group, in its statement, has confirmed the militant commander’s death.

According to reports, Zela Khan Afridi has been chosen as the new chief of the militant group by its shoora.

Earlier, there were doubt about the confirmation of Mangal’s death as “news reports of his killing in drone attacks or clashes with rival groups spread in the past as well, but he himself used to deny them through statements aired by his illegal FM radio station that he operated wherever he travelled”. (DAWN reported)

According to news article published in The Diplomat: Bagh, who was also known as Haji Mangal Bagh, had been hiding across the border in eastern Afghanistan since 2014, the year Pakistan launched a massive anti-Taliban operation, Zarb-e-Azb, in its North Waziristan tribal district.

“Although Mangal Bagh never forged a formal alliance with the TTP and never swore allegiance to any of the TTP chiefs, such as Baitullah Mehsud, Hakimullah Mehsud, or Mullah Fazlullah, he was considered to be a sympathizer,” the report added.